Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Picnic at Hanging Rock

I wish I liked this read more than I did. The backstory of the book itself and even the movie and tv series to me are far more interesting and add more depth to the story. This book has beautiful writing and is very visual in nature but this and the mystery itself is filled down by all the side plots and elements I didn’t care about. I wish this had been a novella and that the focus was narrowed to less characters. In essence this book had a good base idea to it but the pacing was incredibly slow and didn’t take the idea much further.

Content Warnings

kumquats87's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

simone_ebony's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Although the writing at times felt almost deliberately full of jargon, I think the end really saved it from being about a 3 and a half. As soon as

Dora Lumley died, it really took a turn for the better and I really enjoyed the end. The suspenseful and mysterious atmosphere was very well crafted and I think I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. I see why its a classic

Content Warnings

pollyandthebooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

sarah984's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book is a tale of the unsolved disappearance of a group of schoolgirls on a picnic trip and how that shock reverberates through their community and changes other characters’ lives forever.

The points of view are all well done in terms of having different voices and showing which aspects of what had happened mattered to them. I understand from the introduction that there were originally supernatural elements that were toned down for publication and I think that was a good call.

Due to the setting and the publication date, there are a few things that seem pretty dated, including racially insensitive language and a weird obsession with bullying one of the children for being fat.

Content Warnings

francestea's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A not-too-dark mystery with intriguing and many love-em or hate-em type characters. This book never really seemed to go where I expected and jumps around to follow different characters, often doing a bit of foreshadowing for the next section. Great writing and a great read. Definitely wait and read the forward at the end as, with many forwards, it spoils the ending. Also do yourself a favour and look-up an image of Hanging Rock- it’s very cool!

Content Warnings

More...